I just spent an amazing weekend with my husband and two of my very good friends in the Poconos. I want to share my experience with you about traveling when you have food restrictions and how to travel in a more sustainable way.

Most of us love beach vacations including myself, and I am not saying you shouldn’t go. But flying is definitely a huge concern when it comes to your carbon footprint. So if you love going on lots of trips but are concerned about the impact on the environment, try vacationing close to where you live. You might find amazing places. Like a fun fall getaway in the Pocono mountains, if you live close to New York City. We had such a relaxing fun time and were blown away by the beauty of nature.

I love getting to know new places, but following an autoimmune diet has definitely made this a bit more challenging. There is nothing worse than being in a place where you cannot find anything to eat and having to watch your travel companions digging into delicious food. Especially if you are like me and tend to get “hangry”. 🙂

On this trip, we decided to book a 2 bedroom suite with a kitchen, which is the biggest lifesaver when you travel with food restrictions. We made breakfast ourselves, which besides being healthy and delicious was a fun community effort. We brought plantains and avocados with us that we already had at home and that would have otherwise gone bad. On our first day, we made a trip to the local supermarket to buy more food for breakfast and snacks for the weekend. We ended up making paleo pancakes one morning and a yam bacon skillet (will be available in my upcoming e-book) on the other day. Starting your day with a filling nutritious breakfast makes all the difference to avoid being “hangry” while traveling.

When we went to restaurants I made sure to avoid dairy, gluten, and grains. I personally have decided not to go crazy, trying to stick to my diet while I don’t have access to the foods I usually eat. There is a fine line between trying really hard to eat the right thing and being miserable and hungry at the same time. I personally don’t think that that kind of stress can be good for you. Therefore I only avoid what I know will have major consequences for my health. And for the rest, I take it easy and enjoy the moment.

This weekend trip was all about nourishing my body with nature, laughter, adventures, new experiences and quality time with loved ones. That can be a powerful remedy as well and we all felt refreshed, inspired and happy after the weekend was over.

If you haven’t been to the Poconos, the landscape is incredibly gorgeous. Check out Bushkill Falls for a beautiful hike/walk, where you can expect to see waterfalls in all sizes and shapes, an amazing outlook overlooking hills lined with beautiful trees and lots of forests to walk around. If you make it there in the fall like us, you can expect breathtaking fall colors. We all specifically loved our nature walk along the stream.

One of my highlights of the trip was going to a farm for some apple and pumpkin picking. Getting to know where your food comes from and being involved in the process of harvesting is such a powerful experience. And on top of that, the fresh local produce tastes so much better and is very cheap.

I got a pumpkin, butternut squashes, acorn squash, and Courtland apples, so watch out for some new recipes coming your way soon. In the meantime, you can try these: Stuffed acorn squash, butternut squash soup and apple crisp. I highly recommend visiting a farm this fall. Supporting local farmers is one of the best things you can do when trying to live a more sustainable life. One of my favorite things is to talk to the farmers about their produce and their farming methods. Even if the farm is not certified organic you can be pretty sure that small local farmers are using a lot fewer chemicals than the big ones. Just ask your farmer, and they will be happy to share their method with you.

Now I would like to hear from you. What is your favorite nature getaway? Share in the comment section below. Also, don’t forget to connect with me on social media.

Much health and happiness your way,

~Annika